In-home dinners remain ahead of pre-pandemic levels as consumers look to cut costs in the face of inflation and other rising costs, The NPD Group reported.
NPD’s Future of Dinner report forecasts that in-home dinners, which soared during the pandemic, will remain at a high level through 2024. This, in turn, will drive continued high usage of kitchen electrics, kitchenware and tableware, according to the market data and analytics company.
With consumers eating more dinners and other meals at home, kitchen electric sales have grown more than 35% during the past two years, NPD reported. Kitchen appliances, cookware and gadgets offer dinner prep convenience needed by consumers as they’ve resumed busy lifestyles, according to the NPD report. Consumer need for fast dinner fixes with little or no prep, especially during the work week, is forecast by NPD to grow through 2024.
Retail ready-to-eat foods are forecast by NPD to grow by double-digits through 2024. Restaurant meals eaten at home are also forecast to grow, NPD reported.
“More dinner meals at home are here to stay. The shifting population life stages and economic situation will create greater reliance on dinner at home,” says Darren Seifer, NPD food and beverage industry analyst. “Consumers across all ages will look for breaks from routine, like making the same dishes out of habit. Food manufacturers and retailers can help consumers with dinner prep fatigue with convenient new foods and dishes that fit various cooking skill sets and needs. Value will also be top-of-mind with consumers during this time of high inflation. ”
